Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti Joins Coalition Opposing KIDS Act, Supports Stronger Online Protections for Children

Attorney General Skrmetti announced Tennessee has joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general opposing the federal Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (“KIDS Act”), H.R. 7757, arguing the bill would weaken states’ ability to protect children online while insulating Big Tech from accountability.

The coalition warned the KIDS Act would broadly preempt state laws addressing online harms to minors, including social media harms, obscenity, social gaming platforms, and artificial intelligence chatbots.

Attorney General Skrmetti emphasized that Congress should instead advance legislation that includes a meaningful duty of care requirement for online platforms.

“The House version of the KIDS Act gets it backwards. States have been fighting to hold online platforms accountable for real harm to real children.  This bill would undercut that work and hand Big Tech a shield instead of setting a standard,” said Attorney General Skrmetti. “Online platforms should have a clear duty of care to protect children from foreseeable harms and addictive design features. Congress should strengthen our ability to hold these companies accountable—not weaken it.”

The coalition expressed support for the Senate version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), S. 1748, which includes a key Duty of Care provision requiring online platforms to act in the best interests of minors while preserving states’ authority to enforce stronger protections for children and teens.

The letter comes as attorneys general across the country continue investigations and litigation involving major social media platforms, including Meta and TikTok, over allegations that their platforms target and harm underage users.

Tennessee sponsored this letter alongside the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Hawaii, and Ohio, who were also joined by their colleagues from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The letter is being sent to Congressional leadership, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.